Lusam: The Dragon Mage Wars Book Five Read online

  The man outside called out his demands once more, this time with much more menace in his voice. Zedd remained firmly out of sight, but Cole stole a quick glance through the window to see their strength and numbers.

  “Four men. Two weak magi and two non-magi,” Cole reported, stepping back away from the window. Zedd nodded to Avril to open the door, but she turned to look at Tiana for guidance instead.

  “You’ll be just fine, Avril. Do as Zedd asks, and this will all be over soon. I promise,” Tiana said, giving her cousin a reassuring smile. Avril nodded, took a deep breath, and with one final look towards Zedd, removed the bar and opened the door. She took one step outside and stopped. Four men faced her, each with a look of sick satisfaction etched on their face. One man stepped forward and removed a small scroll from his belt. Then with a dramatic flourish, he unrolled it and cleared his throat.

  “I hereby claim this property and its land on behalf of Draek, The Mighty, leader of the Kraell clan. You are ordered to leave this abode immediately, or suffer the consequences according to our laws. Vanga Levak, formally of the Kraell clan, and husband to Avril Levak, will from this day forward be considered an enemy of the Kraell clan, and will be killed on sight should he ever trespass on our lands again.”

  Avril shuddered at the name of her husband, images of his violent death flashing before her eyes. It was far from warm outside, but sweat streaked her brow as she stood trembling before the gaze of the four men. The fact that she stood just beyond the doorway was no accident. Zedd had assured her that if she stepped outside her own house, even by a single footstep, it would show the men that she was not afraid of them. But in truth, she was terrified of them.

  “I will not repeat myself, woman! Leave… NOW!” the man with the scroll half-screamed at her. Avril flinched at the venom in his voice, but remained where she was. She heard Zedd’s whispered words just behind her, telling her to repeat what he said. She took a deep steadying breath and hoped that her voice wouldn’t crack as she repeated Zedd’s words.

  “No!” Avril said, loud and clear. The men looked at each other as if not believing their own ears, but before any of them could speak, Avril continued repeating Zedd’s words. “I dispute your claim on my lands and property and issue a challenge against Draek, the Kraell clan leader, as is my right under our laws.”

  The four men looked dumbstruck by her challenge, and a moment later one after another began laughing uncontrollably at her words. She knew how ridiculous her challenge must seem to them. Draek was a powerful mage. In fact, he was the most powerful mage in the entire Kraell clan, which was exactly why he was their leader. She, on the other hand, was a relatively weak mage with limited training in the art of combat, and would not stand a chance of defeating him in a direct confrontation, and the men there knew it.

  One of the men suddenly seemed to grow a conscience and stepped forward. “Don’t be a fool, woman. Leave now, while you still can. If you challenge Draek, he won’t simply kill you, he’ll make an example out of you for everyone to see.”

  Avril swallowed hard at the thought of what Draek would want to do to her, or anyone else who challenged him. He was not known as a merciful man, nor one to be trifled with. But regardless, Zedd continued to whisper his instructions from inside the house, unaware, or unconcerned about her fears.

  “My challenge still stands. I will wait for his reply,” Avril said, feeling like a puppet in a travelling show.

  The man who had stepped forward shook his head to himself, apparently saddened by her choice. He looked her in the eyes for a moment, as if it would help her to change her mind, then gave her a slight nod. “I will deliver your message,” he said, then turned and walked away, leaving his colleagues laughing amongst themselves at her expense. She ignored them, turned around, and walked back into the house, closing the door firmly behind her. She almost fell into Tiana’s arms as her legs gave way under her, and it earned her a derisive snigger from Zedd. Tiana knew her husband hated any outward signs of weakness, but she gave him a hard stare over Avril’s shoulder anyway.

  “Now we wait,” Zedd said, breaking the awkward silence a few moments later.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The morning sunlight glistened off his dew-drenched scales as he circled high above a small desolate island. The morning thermals were strong here, and they sent him soaring higher into the deepening blue sky with little effort. He didn’t even bother searching the small island for any prey; he knew there was none. But as he circled the edge of the island, he spotted a large shadow just under the ocean’s surface. He banked hard to his right, bringing himself in direct line with the sun and his intended prey, then he folded back his thick leathery wings and dived towards the moving shadow.

  He fell from the sky like a dark bolt of lightning towards the ocean below, and at the last possible moment he flared out his enormous wings and skimmed silently across the surface of the water. Then in a single fluid movement, he extended his razor-sharp talons in front of him and plucked the unfortunate sea creature straight out of the water. It struggled frantically in his grasp, but his powerful talons crushed the life out of the poor beast. He roared his hunting prowess towards the morning sky, but his calls went unheard and unanswered by any of his kind.

  He circled the small island twice more looking for a suitable place to land and devour his prize. There was no soft beach on which to land, only tall sheer cliffs of white rock, and the surface of the island was peppered with jagged rocks of all shapes and sizes. In the centre of the island, there was an ancient ruin, or at least the outline of one. Now only the larger stones remained, hinting at what once must have been an impressively large structure—for humans. There was, however, a clearing in its centre, and he thought the low-lying remains of its once mighty walls might offer him a modicum of protection against the cold sea winds, allowing him to take a gentle snooze after his well-earned meal.

  As he circled the ruins one last time, he couldn’t help feeling a certain amount of familiarity with the place, and a deep sense of loss. He landed heavily on his two hind legs and skidded to a halt within the ancient ruins. He dropped his quarry on the ground and lumbered over towards the northern edge of the ruins. He snuffed at the ground, and it smelled familiar… like smelling the scent of a lost loved one, years after last seeing them. He raised his head to the sky and bellowed out a call to the heavens. Not a call of victory or boastfulness like before, but a call of remorse and sadness. A call of loss.

  Lusam awoke clutching his mother’s pendant to his chest. He stared at it for a moment in disbelief, then dropped it onto the ship’s deck as if it had just burned his skin. He had no idea how he’d even come to be holding it, and the fresh memories of the dragon made him shudder inside. Ever since discovering it was the source of his dragon nightmares in Lamuria, he had kept his mother’s amulet safely tucked away inside his tunic pocket. Only once before had he accidentally fallen asleep holding it, and that had been in the small fishing village where they had said goodbye to Durlan.

  Lusam’s heart pounded in his chest as he stared at the amulet through the haze of sleep. The last thing that he needed right now was for the dragon to find him again in his dreams. Not when his current mission was so time critical. Not when his friends were in so much danger at The Rift, and the entire world on the brink of annihilation. He could feel the panic rising within him. Dreadful memories of those weeks spent at the mercy of the dragon. Weeks being tortured and tormented by the beast, and nothing that he could do about it.

  “Are you alright?” Neala asked, placing a hand on his arm and startling him. He spun towards her, eyes wide with terror, then he suddenly remembered where he was again. Neala saw the amulet on the ship’s deck in front of him, and the way he was looking at it. “Oh, no. You didn’t fall asleep wearing it, did you?” He shook his head mutely but didn’t take his eyes off the amulet. “Then what’s the matter?”

  “I woke up holding it in my hand,” he replied, “and I… I dreamed
about the dragon.”

  Neala gasped. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Lusam. I never heard you make a sound, or I would have removed the amulet from your hand,” she said, pulling him into a tight embrace. “Was it as bad as before?”

  He shook his head. “No. It was… different. This time I was the dragon,” he said quietly, as if he was scared to even utter the word ‘dragon’, just in case it heard him. Then he suddenly realised something else. It was the same kind of dream that he’d had in Durlan’s village when he’d fallen asleep in the chair holding his mother’s pendant. It was definitely the same dragon, and he was fairly certain that it was the same island. But the details of the previous dream had been different. In that one, he had seen the desolate island from above, but it had then been replaced by a lushly forested island. An island teaming with life, both in the skies and on the ground, and it had stretched out before him for as far as he could see. Somehow he had still known that it was an island, but it could easily have been mistaken for an entire continent from the air, it was so vast. That first dream had ended in the triumph of a hunt, and although his… no… the dragon’s hunt was still successful this time, it had been tempered by a keen sense of loss and sadness. A feeling so profound that he could still feel its effects even now.

  Neala leaned over and picked up the amulet, as much to hide it from Lusam’s view as to save it from being lost. She didn’t like him having it at all, but she knew how precious it was to him. The amulet was the only thing he had left of his mother and grandmother, and since his attempt to rescue his mother at Irragin had ended in failure, he no doubt felt his connection to it even more keenly now.

  “Would you like me to look after it for you?” Neala asked. Lusam shook his head and surprised her by reaching out and taking the amulet from her hand. Then he surprised her even more by placing it around his neck.

  “Are you sure that’s wise?”

  Lusam lifted the amulet in one hand to look at it for a moment, then nodded. “It’s never caused me any problems whilst I’m awake,” he replied.

  As much as Neala wanted to disagree with him, she found that she couldn’t. “Just make sure that you remember to take it off again before you go to sleep,” she warned.

  “You don’t have to worry about that,” Lusam replied, holding onto it tightly under his shirt.

  ***

  They spent almost a week at sea before arriving at the port where Captain Waylon had to make his delivery, and the weather had been far from perfect during that time. Fortunately, the delivery port had been to the south of Fairport, and as such, they hadn’t required much of a detour at all. In fact, by the time they made landfall, both Lusam and Neala were very glad to have some solid ground back under their feet again, even if it was only for a short period of time.

  Captain Waylon had attempted to acquire the four barrels of nails that Lusam had requested back in Fairport, but none of the warehouses there had any in stock, and consequently, they had been forced to sleep on the hard deck of the ship instead of a magical hammock. That in itself, Lusam could have dealt with, but the constant pitching and yawing of the ship on the rough sea had made both himself and Neala continuously nauseous ever since setting sail from Fairport. He had tried to steady the Pelorus using his magic, but it simply caused the heavy laden ship to crash through the waves, rather than ride over them, and Captain Waylon had had a few choice words to say about that.

  When Lusam had asked old Lamar how much longer it would take to reach Monmeriath Isle, he had been a little vague in his reply. So much so, that Lusam began to wonder if he did indeed know its location at all. But after speaking with Captain Waylon about the matter it became clear that it wasn’t as much about the actual distance, as it was about currents and wind direction at that time of year. Captain Waylon explained that if the wind and currents were favourable it could take as little as another week to arrive at their destination. If on the other hand the wind and currents were against them, which was just as likely with winter approaching, it could take them more than twice that long to get there. And when he informed Lusam that the sea conditions would likely be far worse once they rounded the southern cape of Afaraon, it steeled Lusam’s resolve to find the iron nails that he needed to create his free-floating magical hammock. He simply couldn’t face another week—let alone two or three—in sea conditions that were even worse than what they had endured so far.

  Fortunately, Lusam managed to find a merchant selling both iron and copper nails, and after a little experimentation, he found that the copper nails were far better at holding a magical charge than the iron nails were. The only downside was that the copper nails cost almost three times the amount of their iron equivalents, but he had enough gold coins left, so he made the purchase all the same. At least they should now be able to travel in relative comfort, instead of constantly feeling ill. He was glad that Alexia had chosen to stay with the other paladins, and knew for certain that she would agree with him if she knew how rough the voyage had been so far. Alexia had suffered terrible bouts of nausea even when the sea had been relatively calm, so he dreaded to think what she would have been like on this trip.

  The Pelorus’ cargo was soon unloaded onto the dockside and the fresh supplies that Captain Waylon had ordered were brought aboard, along with the four barrels of copper nails which Lusam had purchased. He got a few strange looks from members of the crew as he magically manoeuvred the barrels into position, but no one asked him what he intended to do with them—not even Captain Waylon. As soon as he had them in position, he began infusing the copper nails with his magic, and had a fully functioning magical hammock erected long before the Pelorus had even left the calm waters of the port. Strangely enough, he noticed that Neala never once ridiculed his creation this time, obviously more than happy at the prospect of leaving the moving deck behind. He smiled to himself, but decided it would be best not to comment on it.

  The next several days passed by excruciatingly slowly for Lusam and Neala. Only the weather and the sea conditions changed—both for the worse. And although Lusam always remembered to remove his amulet before sleeping, he still found himself in the midst of similar dragon related dreams almost every night. Always the same dragon, and always the same island. But the content of the dreams differed from night to night, and never once did the dragon attempt to attack him, or even appear to notice his presence. In fact, each night his dreams made him feel as if he was the dragon, or at least inside the dragon’s mind looking out. And each morning he awoke either clutching the amulet to his chest, or holding onto it inside his pocket. It made him feel extremely anxious at first, but as the nights passed by and he witnessed no hostility from the dragon, he began to relax more and more. He even contemplated wearing the amulet around his neck whilst he slept, but decided that might be a step too far. Whilst the dragon remained unaware of his presence, he felt that it was much better it stayed that way, and Neala agreed with him, wholeheartedly.

  Seven days later the Pelorus finally rounded the southern cape of Afaraon and was greeted by truly horrendous sea conditions. The gale-force winds battered the ship’s rigging, and they were forced to furl most of their sails, making the ship even less manoeuvrable in the giant swells and troughs of the ocean. The ship would climb its way over one wave, only to come crashing down hard into the trough behind it. If Lusam hadn’t been actively stabilizing the ship with his magic, he felt certain it would have capsized at least a dozen times by the end of that first day. It was truly terrifying for all on board. Twice he’d had to rescue crewmen from drowning after they had been washed overboard by giant waves, each time levitating them safely back aboard the ship.

  Fortunately, an hour before nightfall, Captain Waylon managed to navigate the ship into the lee of a small island, giving them some much-needed shelter from the relentless wind and waves. Lusam knew that the conversation was coming, even before Captain Waylon sent for them. He knocked at the Captain’s door and waited until he heard a call to enter. A moment later he was
standing inside the warm cabin with Neala by his side, and Captain Waylon looking decidedly worse for wear, sitting in wet clothes behind his desk. The Captain took a breath to speak, but Lusam knew exactly what he was about to say—and completely agreed with him.

  “I know… we can’t go any further in these conditions,” Lusam said, pre-empting the Captain’s own words.

  Captain Waylon nodded. “I’m glad ya understand, lad. In all my years at sea, I ain’t seen nothing like that. That out there, lad, is a ship killer, to be sure.”

  “How long is it likely to take before it passes?” Lusam asked.

  “I’m afraid at this time of year there’s no way of telling. It could last an hour, a day, or even a week. The only thing I can tell ya for sure, lad, is that it won’t last much past spring.”

  “That’s not very comforting,” Neala said, under her breath.

  “No, it’s not, lass, but it’s the best guarantee that I can give ya right now,” Captain Waylon said, smiling at her. “All we can do is batten down the hatches for the night and hope that the morning brings us some fairer weather.”

  Lusam nodded at the Captain’s words. He was disappointed that the weather had turned so bad, and although he was desperate to reach Monmeriath Isle as soon as possible, even he could see the logic in staying where they were for now. After a little more conversation they bid the Captain goodnight and headed back to the aft deck for some well-needed rest. As they stepped out of the Captain’s cabin they came face to face with the two men Lusam had pulled out of the ocean earlier that day. They both doffed their hats and looked down at Lusam’s feet, too afraid to look directly at him.